June 13 (Bloomberg) -- Advanced Micro Devices Inc., the
second-largest maker of computer processors, said it will
license a design from ARM Holdings Plc and build it into AMD
chips to improve their security.

ARM’s A5 design, normally used to provide security in
mobile phones, will start to function in that role as part of
AMD processors beginning next year, AMD Chief Information
Officer Mike Wolfe said in a telephone interview. The first
chips will be those designed for tablets and ultrathin laptops,
he said.

AMD is the second-largest maker of a type of chip that
dominates the personal-computer industry, Intel Corp.’s so-called X86. The company is bringing in technology from the
mobile-phone business to help it compete with Intel, which
bought McAfee Inc. last year to beef up the security
capabilities of its processors.

ARM, based in Cambridge, England, is the largest provider
of technology used in mobile-phone chips. Its customers include
Qualcomm Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc.

Sunnyvale, California-based AMD, whose PC processors employ
Intel technology, chose ARM’s design for the security function
because it’s more widely used and there’s more software written
for it, Wolfe said.

AMD rose 3.9 percent to $5.91 yesterday at the New York
close. The shares have gained 9.4 percent this year.